Reach for You
by Izzu
Summary: TQZ2. Honma finally was released, and Kamiyama is not intending to let his friend slip away from his reach anymore. Post series
1. Chapter 1

az: XD. Since Stay with Me triggered this. Added new scenes so that it could kinda stand alone even if you don't read SwM

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><p><span>Reach for you<span>

Part 1 - Holding on to you

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

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He had to admit that he kind of panicked a bit when he did not see Honma anywhere. He knew that he should have headed out earlier to fetch Honma. Well, it was not like he could skip this morning's debriefing.

Yoda-san had told him that Honma would be released today and he had convinced the older man to let him pick his friend up instead. That deal with the president aside, he wanted to see Honma. Honma had avoided meeting him all this time so if he missed this chance, he might not be able to see him again.

He did not want Honma to leave without telling where he was going. If he had to take drastic measures to keep Honma by his side, he would not mind doing it if there was a slight chance where their friendship could be restored again.

It was a relief to have finally found him at the park, talking with a young boy. Kamiyama spared no moment to drag Honma to follow him back home.

xxx

Kamiyama glanced nervously at his old friend who was getting grumpier every minute as said man kept muttering things under his breath. Well, seeing that Saejima-san's presence did not help the situation _much_...

"Honma! Say something please! With you being so quiet... I'm worried about you—"

Honma suddenly laughed. "Hah! _You..._ worried about me? Now that's special. Don't act so nice as if nothing happened between us all these years... and _please _stop this car! I want out!"

The car did not stop as Honma groaned loudly.

"Honma-kun... this is not a cab. You're coming with us regardless of what you think about it."

"Screw it! If you don't stop, I-I'll _jump _outta the car! Then—"

Kamiyama turned towards her in alarm as he tried to reach for Honma for fear of him doing _just_that, but then Honma took a long pause before reaching to the door handle.

"What? You're still here? Not jumping off?"

Kamiyama tried to keep a straight face at her taunting as he watched Honma cautiously. Aside from relief to see that Honma not doing anything reckless—well, there's no telling what'll happen after all... Saejima-san was not driving _that_ slow and they were now entering the main road!—a part of himself wondered about Honma's state of mind. Yoda-san had told him that his friend had at least gotten well enough while under custody—they had assigned a psychiatrist to help in Honma's recovery—but he cannot be sure how well Honma had been. Honma had refused visits from _him,_ his father and everyone else spare Yoda-san while he was in his cell, so he was not really sure how Honma would react to seeing him again. He did not want Honma to disappear from his life, there were still so much that he wanted to make up for.

Not wanting to admit defeat, Honma snapped at Saejima. "And why are _you_ here? Where's Yoda-san? What exactly did you want with me?"

Kamiyama sighed.

"Yoda-san's making the preparation for your return. You know... after that incident, he helped me a bit to find myself a place to stay. And I told him... since you're finally being released, you might as well live with me—"

"Like hell! Why're you dragging Yoda-san along? I can go back to my old place just f—"

"Can't do that. That apartment you've stayed before had already been emptied out and sold. Not that you had a lot of stuff there anyway..."

Honma gave him a look of alarm. "Why... you...!—"

And so, the rest of the trip went on a bit... _lively_.

xxx

"You know... I had enough of your nonsense last time. Don't think I'd bear with it _this_ time, regardless what the doctors said—", Saejima exclaimed as Kamiyama placed a hand to stop her before turning towards his friend. Honma continued being silent before another person approached them.

"Toshio-kun..."

Honma started to make a disagreeable face. He turned towards the older man accusingly.

"Why did you help these guys with their plans? I thought I said I _don't want_ them to know that I got out... and I thought _you_ were supposed to pick me up? I'm outta here..."

Honma started to come out of the car but before he could actually get so far, Yoda and Kamiyama grabbed him on both arms towards the elevator. Yoda muttered his apologies as they dragged him along. Honma turned around and glared at Saejima as she excused herself to park the car at the lot.

Things could not get any worse. But it did, unfortunately.

Honma stared at half of his former staff members who used to work with him during his last variety show, now sitting around the living room. To say that Honma was not pleased over this was a major understatement.

Before Takasugi could even open her mouth, Honma immediately bolted into the nearest room he could find and slammed the door behind him.

Everyone glanced at each other before Kamiyama let out a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry. Honma's probably just surprised..." he said before heading towards the room Honma just entered. Surprisingly, the door was not locked.

xxx

"Honma?" Kamiyama asked cautiously as Honma sat huddled at a corner of the room, head resting on his knees as he wrapped his arms around his legs.

"If you want to ask if I'm okay, I'm _fine._ You don't even need to ask if I'm mentally or emotionally stable right now. Okay... well, right now I can't really say I have my emotions checked. Why're you guys doing this to me?"

Kamiyama frowned. "Do what? We're not planning anything. We just thought... since you've finally out of the jail, we might be able to help out. You know... get you settled—"

"All I want right now is to be left _alone_. Even if I wanna return to Ginga TV and see you guys again, I will do it when I felt ready for it. I just wanted time for me to adjust myself. But then you just _had_ to drop the bomb. Can't you leave me be... _now_?"

Kamiyama crept closer to Honma's side as he urged his friend to face him. Honma hastily wiped his face.

"Did you hate me Honma?"

Honma turned his eyes away from meeting Kamiyama's.

"Do I even _have_ a right to hate you? Do I even hate anyone... including myself for what I did? I'm not even sure myself."

Kamiyama pulled Honma closer towards him.

"I don't hate you. And I'm sure the others feels the same as well. Honma, we all missed you. We want you back."

Honma laughed.

"Haha. Yeah right. As if you guys really meant it."

Kamiyama hugged him tighter.

"We do, stupid. You just didn't want to let yourself accept the truth. Come on, let's greet the others. It's been a while since you've seen them after all."


	2. Chapter 2

az: Sugar. Stay away from me XOOOOOOOOOOOO

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><p><span>Reach for you<span>

Part 2 - Keeping you close

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

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Honma cautiously bowed as he greeted them.

"Hi. Well... it's been a while. I had thought that I'd be seeing you guys some time... just, not like this. So... nice to see you guys. Hmm... bye."

Kamiyama pulled his arm back as Honma tried to run. Takasugi hurriedly approached him again as Honma made a face at Kamiyama.

"Honma-san, how are you doing now? We never get to hear anything about you these few years... so I was wondering—"

Honma turned his attention towards Takasugi before shrugging.

"I'm fine. The doctors said I was fine too. Even the judge who handled my appeals think I'm fine as well so I should rightfully say that I'm fi—" Kamiyama elbowed him as Honma leered back. "So, how do you do?"

Takasugi smiled. "I guess you could say I'm doing well too. Although I'm still trying to get used to managing some of those TV programmes as a director."

"Well... good for you—"

"We want you back, Honma-san!" Takeuchi suddenly exclaimed. "It's not quite the same, not having you around to order us to make us do work. Even if we had managed to cope with it these few years, it's not that nice without you. So when the boss said—"

Honma turned towards him as the man just suddenly stopped talking. He glanced around to briefly to see Saejima—who just happened to finally entered the apartment—making suspicious gestures at Takeuchi. The others were also looking strangely uncomfortable suddenly. As if they were hiding something...

Honma cast them a suspicious look. "What was that? What was it you were about to say just now, Takeuchi?"

Takeuchi started to mumble nervously before Kamiyama waved the question away. "It's nothing. Just work related stuff. I'm sure your dad could explain it better tomorro—"

Honma pulled his hand away. "Who cares about that old guy? What are you hiding from me—?"

Matsuzaka patted him on the shoulder before pulling Honma away towards the dining area. "Don't worry about that... Honma-kun. Let's eat. I'm sure you're famished now. Leave that work related talk for later. So... let's hear more of what you've been doing these few years..."

xxx

Honma pushed the folder away from him with a jerk before standing up. He looked up to his _father_'s face as he stared at him in disbelief.

"What're you thinking of... shoving _that_ to _me_?"

Tadokoro just shrugged. "We had a poll last time. Despite the trouble caused by both the first and second Quiz Show, it seemed that a lot have asked whether or not the show would be revived again. There seemed to be quite a number of followers who actually liked the show. The plan to revive that show was already being made but Kamiyama insisted that he would not take any part in it unless _you_ were there to handle the production. I could have formed another team but without Kamiyama-kun, it won't work out. Since I heard you've finally been released, I made _this_ as a condition if I was to restore you to your former position in this company."

Honma blinked.

"Ka—Kamiyama said what...?"

Saejima tried to calm him down. "Honma-kun... please don't blame Kamiyama on this. I actually think this was a good idea—Honma-kun!"

Before she could say further, Honma already ran out of the office...

xxx

Saejima hastily gave chase but realised there was no need for it as Kamiyama had already waited in front of the office. And it was not just him, the previous team of Quiz Show Golden had also gathered in front of the office to wait for Honma. Realization struck him as he saw all of them having serious looks on their faces.

"You guys... _knew_ about this?" Honma asked as Saejima noticed how pale Honma had looked.

"Honma..." Kamiyama started to say as Honma started shaking his head. Tears started trickling from his eyes as Honma backed away from Kamiyama.

"No... no... you can't... make me do this. You can't! I wanted to put _that_ behind me... why would you—I don't want to take part in _that_ again!"

"Honma... Honma!" Kamiyama called again as he grabbed Honma by the shoulders. "Just this once. I liked to have you back, here as a director. I wanted to be able to work together with you like before. Tadokoro-san said it would only be for one more season. After that, he'd keep you here and we could produce many other variety show we could think of... we don't even have to bother with this quiz show ever again. Please?"

"Listen to Kamiyama. We're not doing this to punish you," said Saejima as Honma was on the verge of crying again.

"Please... Honma-san. I believe you can do it." Honma turned his attention towards Takasugi as she continued. "Despite what happened, I believed if the show was being handled by you again... it could be the best one we could have done. That aside, I want you back with the team!"

Takeuchi sighed. "I don't know about you, Honma-san. But I missed working with you. There was this thrill of excitement whenever I—the team run a show together. I don't mind taking part in the show again if that meant I get to work together again with everyone as a team. If doing that could bring you back here... it gets dull around here without having you around." he said as the other staff members started chiding him for his last comment.

Kamiyama chuckled as another voice interrupted them.

"I too wanted to see what the Quiz Show would be like, if there was no ill intention being put into it. I guess it bugged me a bit. The original concept had been interesting after all, but I've corrupted it. And it affected you as well."

Honma gasped as Yamanobe walked out from behind one of the staff members. The man smiled.

"You did have the talent to bring out a sense of excitement from a show after all. I always wondered how the show could really have turn out, if I did not turn it into a personal weapon to exact my revenge."

"Yamanobe-san..." Honma started to say before shaking his head again. "N-no... I can't. You're thinking too much about my own abilities..."

He turned towards Kamiyama as the man strengthened his grip on his arm. "You will not be doing this alone. All of us will do our best to make this work."

Honma turned to see everyone looking at him with anticipation. To think everyone was wiling to do this much for him. Are they stupid? Did they liked it so much to have him constantly barking orders to them and making their lives hell in order to get the best out of every shows he had directed? Masochist... much?

Honma sniffled.

"You guys are idiots!" he exclaimed as he wiped away the tears glistening in his eyes. "Alright!"

Everyone started looking at each other in puzzlement as they wondered what he had meant. Honma continued. "But I'm telling this now. I'm not doing this because of _you._ I'm not really _that_ desperate to come work _here_ after all these years."

Saejima cocked her head at this before noticing Honma was not looking at any of the staff members when he said that. She turned around to find President Tadokoro smirking at them from his office door.

"I'm not expecting you to be thankful," he said before returning to his office.

Honma snorted to himself before sighing. "I thought you'd say that. A... ah! I want to go home!"

Saejima smiled at him as she patted his head. "Yes, go home and rest. I already called Yoda-san to take you back." She turned towards Kamiyama. "Keep Honma-kun company. Yoda-san should be waiting at the lobby."

Kamiyama nodded to her as Honma looked up to address his team. He bowed. "Please look after me."

Matsuzaka chuckled. "Of course."

xxx

Kamiyama approached Honma slowly at the balcony.

"Are you okay?" he asked as Honma shrugged at him. "You've been so pale since you left the president's office after all."

"What would you expect my reaction be? Happy? Since you already knew about it, how would you react if you're being forced to face the very thing you wanted to escape from?"  
>Kamiyama placed a hand on his shoulder.<p>

"Things should work out well. After all... you have all of us to support you."

Honma turned towards him.

"Why are you trying so hard for my sake?"

Kamiyama chuckled.

"Idiot! Because I'm your best friend. S_till _is... even if you don't want to accept it. I'm still think of you as my important friend. How could I leave you alone?" he said before shrugging. "I missed seeing your smiles. It's a waste actually if Honma nowadays didn't smile a lot like he used to be..."

Honma blinked at him before his cheeks started to flush red. "I-idiot! Why were you talking like that? Don't say embarrassing things if you don't mean it!"

Honma immediately started to head towards his room as Kamiyama followed him.

"But I do mean it!" he exclaimed before grabbing Honma's hand. Honma turned as he gave him a glare. Kamiyama smiled at him, regardless.

"Thank goodness. I could finally reach my hand out to you. I had been so scared I'd lose you when you refused contact with anyone but Yoda-san when you turned yourself in. I don't want to lose you."

Honma was silent for a moment before grabbing a stray pillow to smack the goofball on the face. "Go to your own room!" he snapped before looking away.

Kamiyama just sighed before catching a muttered 'Thank you' as he started to walk away. He smiled.

"You're welcome... old buddy."


End file.
